The Information Age is upon us. Access to vast quantities of information through a variety of different communication systems are changing the way people work, entertain themselves, and communicate with each other. Faster, more capable communication technologies are constantly being developed. For the manufacturers and designers of these new technologies, achieving “interoperability” is becoming an increasingly difficult challenge.
Interoperability is the ability for one device to communicate with another device, or to communicate with another network, through which other communication devices may be contacted. However, with the explosion of different communication protocols (i.e., the rules communications equipment use to transfer data), designing true interoperability is not a trivial pursuit.
For example, most wireless communication devices employ conventional “carrier wave,” or radio frequency (RF) technology, while other devices use electro-optical technology. Generally, each one of these communication technologies employ their own communication protocol.
Another type of communication technology is ultra-wideband (UWB). UWB technology is fundamentally different from conventional forms of RF technology. UWB employs a “carrier free” architecture, which does not require the use of high frequency carrier generation hardware; carrier modulation hardware; frequency and phase discrimination hardware or other devices employed in conventional frequency domain communication systems.
Within UWB communications, several different types of networks, each with their own communication protocols are envisioned. For example, there are Local Area Networks (LANs), Personal Area Networks (PANs), Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs), sensor networks and others. Each network may have its own communication protocol.
Therefore, there exists a need for a communication protocol for ultra-wideband communication devices, which will allow for compatibility and coexistence between different networks, and different ultra-wideband devices.